Jessica Castillo-Hulsey was among the first advocates for this skateboard park she helped promote at Eastwood Park, one of her many achievements.

Jessica Castillo-Hulsey was among the first advocates for this skateboard park she helped promote at Eastwood Park, one of her many achievements.

Photo: James Nielsen, Chronicle

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Dennis Mendez hears from Jessica Castillo-Hulsey at Eastwood Park. She's not afraid to speak up. Constable Victor Trevino notes that "if we had more of her, we would get more things done."

Dennis Mendez hears from Jessica Castillo-Hulsey at Eastwood Park. She's not afraid to speak up. Constable Victor Trevino notes that "if we had more of her, we would get more things done."

Photo: James Nielsen, Chronicle

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East End's 'go-to' woman not shy about activism

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This is the second in our series of "Making a Difference" profiles.

Jessica Castillo-Hulsey sometimes calls herself a widow, even though she's only divorced. Asked her age, she confesses she's 58, then admits she's just turned 60.

When the topic comes to what she's done with her life, she tells the biggest, good-nature whopper of all: "I'm just a simple homemaker," she says. "That's all I am."

Few of Castillo-Hulsey's neighbors — even fewer in city government — would buy that last assertion. Castillo-Hulsey, whose eyes sparkle with devilish mirth and whose energy would be the envy of one 20 years her junior, is the East End's "go-to" woman. In the roughly 25 years she's lived in Houston, Castillo has tilted - through membership in neighborhood groups and by herself - against trash and trashy behavior.

She's battled beer joints that doubled as brothels, urged the demolition of derelict buildings-turned drug nests, successfully lobbied for improvements at Eastwood Park and focused such heat on a drug center near a neighborhood school that it finally closed its doors.

Eastwood Park both launched Castillo-Hulsey's activist career and served as a focal point for it.

"It was called a 'wino park,' " she said of the recreation facility in the 5000 block of Harrisburg. Castillo-Hulsey recalled two neighborhood women who approached her to spearhead cleanup efforts.

At first, Castillo-Hulsey, preoccupied with the rearing of her grade-school daughter, was resistant. Then she visited the park.

"I was a little afraid," she said. "There were transients, winos … I just didn't feel comfortable."

Castillo-Hulsey and her colleagues launched neighborhood cleanups and lobbied the city parks hierarchy for a voice in Eastwood's management.

A strident volunteer

Through those efforts, the Eastwood Park Advisory Council was created. "Slowly we cleaned up the park with the support of the community," Castillo-Hulsey said. "We got amenities like trash cans and benches, more programs for our youth. My daughter, Carla, learned to dance there."

In 2004, she agitated for creation of a skate park at Eastwood. It opened in April 2005.

In 2008, she was among community leaders calling for a crackdown on incipient gang activity in the park. More police patrols began. Just last March, the veteran activist took advantage of a public meeting hosted by District H City Councilman Ed Gonzalez to push for a new community center.

"Termites are coming out of the walls," Castillo-Hulsey complained. "A new building, a bigger building is needed, and it would make sense because we're growing, especially in the Latino community."

Her activism reached beyond the park. She worked to organize monthly neighborhood cleanups; partnered with parks officials to create hike and bike trails; and hammered out relationships with a host of city officials.

"Often people don't know where to go, who to talk to," she said. "But as a group, we developed that knowledge. …It gave us access to city departments."

Approach nettles some

At times, Castillo-Hulsey's activism - she calls it "volunteerism" - has taken on strident tones. She joined picketers in a street protest of a drug rehab center situated close to Burnet Elementary school. She pushed for its closure in a number of venues and wrangled with Houston Independent School District over buying the property.

Ultimately, HISD bought the property for use as an early childhood development center.

Trevino, who occasionally has knocked heads with Castillo-Hulsey over methods, if not goals, conceded that some find her approach "nettling."

But, he said, "I respect the lady. If we had more of her, we would get more things done. ... If you stay in your house minding your own business, nobody gets (angry) . But to do good things, it takes people being involved."